Tottenham Hotspur on this Day - 4th December 1968

Tottenham on this Day - 4th December

4th December 1968

 

Spurs 1 Arsenal 1 League Cup semi-final (2nd leg) [Lost 1-2 on agg.]

Scorer: Greaves

Jimmy Greaves scores the opening goal at White Hart Lane to bring the teams level on aggregate

 

Tottenham, one down from the first leg at Highbury through an injury time goal, played an unchanged team at White Hart Lane. This was only the second occasion that they had taken part in the competition and Spurs needed to win by two goals while the visitors would be satisfied by a draw. 

 

Compared to the dour struggle of the first match, this was a game of hard, crunching tackles which at times, early in the game, spilled over with some of the nasty incidents that can occur in local derbies.

 

Arsenal started the better amid all the tackles and put the home defence under early pressure as they controlled much of the first half. Mike England, playing at centre-forward, struggled against Ian Ure as Spurs created little, apart from three long-range shots from Terry Venables.

 

After the interval, Spurs showed greater endeavour and took control in midfield which enabled Jimmy Greaves to score his 25th goal of the season. It came as he turned in a chipped centre from Jimmy Pearce with just over twenty minutes remaining.

 

Spurs continued to put the visitors under pressure as they sought a second to secure their place in the Final at Wembley. Bob Wilson kept Arsenal in the tie and just as happened in the first leg, they again struck late to claim the victory. With three minutes left, centre-forward John Radford scored with a header from a corner to reach their second successive League Cup Final.

 

Venables and Arsenal defenders argue

Tottenham battled away in the time remaining but Wilson somehow managed to keep out a late strike from Alan Gilzean.

 

The attendance was 55,932, Spurs’ record home gate for a Football League Cup tie at White Hart Lane.

 

Team: Jennings; Kinnear, Knowles; Mullery, Collins P., Beal; Pearce, Greaves, England, Venables, Gilzean

 

Losing the semi-final was disappointing for Spurs but to lose to their greatest rivals was doubly disappointing, the only joy from the loss came later in the season when Arsenal lost in the Final for the second time, this time to 3rd Division, Swindon Town.

Tottenham’s early years in the Football League Cup

The competition started in 1960-61 but entry was not compulsory and it received a lukewarm reception from 1st Division clubs. Spurs, like a number of other clubs opted out, citing concerns about having too many matches and in that first season, Tottenham were focused on other major competitions.

 

It was not until the 1966-67 season that Spurs finally opted in, with the carrot of the Final being played at Wembley and a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (to become the UEFA Cup) for the winning team. The next year they again, didn’t take part as they were in the European Cup Winners’ Cup as FA Cup winners. Spurs have played in the League Cup in every season since 1968-69.

 

For the first nine years they competed in the League Cup, Tottenham’s record is rather unusual. They either won the trophy (twice - 1971 and 1973), lost in the semi-finals (three times - 1969, 1972, 1976) or were knocked out in the 2nd Round (i.e. the first match they played in the competition on four occasions - 1967, 1970, 1974 and 1975).

 

It was only in the 1976-77 season, the year they were relegated, that they broke that cycle and progressed beyond the opening round only to be knocked out before the semi-finals.